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Jon Cohn sees an increased Obama emphasis on cost-controls in healthcare reform. Ezra seconds:

The MedPAC changes under discussion are, in other words, nothing less
than a new process for health care cost reforms. They empower experts
who won't be intimidated by the intricacy of the issues and sidestep
the filibuster's ability to halt change in its tracks.  MedPAC, of course, is restricted to Medicare. But there's little doubt
that where Medicare leads, the health care industry follows.

Fabio Rojas has a theory:

[C]onservative politics was not �Sreborn⬝ after the Goldwater campaign in 1964 and cemented by Reagan. Instead, the Nixonites allowed this new ideological trend to be the face of the party, but they retained control over the institutional functions of the party, as evidence by Nixon�"s resurgence. This observation explains a lot of other puzzling feature of Republican politics. This is not the party of small government, it�"s the party of national security. The party of individual liberty and self-reliance is actually the party of �Senhanced interrogation.⬝ The idea tying it together is national security, with superficial appeals to whatever helps win the election.

On June 4, President Obama will deliver a speech at 1:10 in the afternoon in Cairo, 6:10 in the morning in Washington, D.C. No matter where you are, watch it live on WhiteHouse.gov/live.



The White House Blog previews President Obama's June 4 speech in Cairo:



The history of the relationship between America and the Muslim World is deeper and more complex than the common perception might suggest. Thomas Jefferson taught himself Arabic using his own Quran kept in his personal library, and had the first known presidential Iftaar by breaking fast with the Tunisian Ambassador at sunset. President Dwight Eisenhower attended the dedication ceremony of the Islamic Center in Washington, D.C. on June 28, 1957. President Bill Clinton issued the first presidential greeting for Ramadan, appointed the first Muslim American ambassador, M. Osman Siddique, to Fiji, and sent the first presidential Eid al-Adha greeting to Muslims. And one year after President George W. Bush placed the Holy Quran in the White House library in 2005, Representative Keith Ellison was took the oath of office on the same Quran owned by Thomas Jefferson two hundred years before.



With his speech in Cairo, the President will lay another marker, addressing America’s relationship with the Muslim World in the heart of the Middle East. Whereas the past years and decades have deepened the rift in that relationship, the President will seek a new start by opening up a serious, honest dialogue to find areas of common interest where we agree, and new ways of communication where we do not. By continuing unprecedented outreach to the Muslim World, the President is strengthening national security and opening up new opprtunities to address some of the problems that have seemed so intractable over recent years.



The speech will be given at 1:10 in the afternoon in Cairo, 6:10 in the morning here in Washington, D.C. No matter where you are, watch it live on WhiteHouse.gov/live.